Strengthening Candidate Relationships: How and Why Companies Should Send Thank You Emails After Interviews
“It was a pleasure speaking with you today. Thank you for sharing your insights and enthusiasm for the Marketing Manager role. I’m glad I could recommend Atomic Habits—maybe we can exchange ideas after you’ve read it in the future. We will be in touch soon regarding the next steps. Thank you again for your time.”
Let’s assume you’re an applicant, and a recruiter sent you this email a few hours after your interview. How would you feel? Well, most likely elated and looking forward to joining the team. Also, this instantly creates a favorable and warm impression of the company you applied to.
That’s the exact goal—to build a positive brand image.
Sending your applicants a post-interview Thank You email helps develop an employer-applicant relationship, which in turn improves work productivity when you onboard them.
In this article, we will discuss why this is important, how to send effective thank-you emails, and how email marketing tools like MailMunch make the entire process effortless.
Thank you emails have always been a one-way effort made only by the applicant. In fact, 80% of hiring managers expect and consider a “Thank You” note from their interviewee when making the final hiring decision. Another 21% of employers are less likely to hire applicants who don’t send a post-interview appreciation text.
However, that’s a narrative worth changing. Just as much as applicants are expected to initiate an appreciation trend, in-house hiring managers and freelance recruiters need to start doing the same too. And here’s why:
An employer brand is more or less the image you portray or how you want job seekers, potential employees, and public groups to see you. While this might sound unnecessary, after all, you call the shots, your employer image:
A simple appreciative gesture after an interview, even if the applicant performs woefully, positively ensures you’re leaving the right impression.
A lot of things can impact a candidate’s experience during recruitment, for instance, the duration of the interview and bogus document requirements. Some recruitment processes are in lengthy stages, which can span days, weeks, or even months. All these cause about 60% of applicants to drop out midway—which might include your ideal talent.
Sending a Thank You message cushions these complexities and shows applicants you value their investments in time or effort. Ultimately, this boosts their experience and further reinforces their impression of their future workplace culture.
With over 76% of job seekers complaining of the recruiter ghosting culture, you definitely don’t want your applicants to think you’ve moved on without them. This paints your employer image black, and it can, sometimes, prompt your best talents to seek out new, available opportunities.
That’s why you need to reinforce interest in every candidate, especially those who stood out during the interview process. Let them know you’re still there, the next steps to take, and how long they need to wait for or if they’re not a good fit.
Just like any other type of email, post-interview Thank You emails have a few key elements you must keep in mind. And they include:
Timeliness defines how late or how early you should send a Thank-You email after an interview. Some believe it should be sent immediately after the call, while others believe it is preferable to send it three to four days after.
However, both have their cons. Sending an email immediately after the interview makes it look like a pre-written and generic message, which in turn reduces its value. Also, that might not give you the needed time to personalize the email.
On the other end, sending it too late downgrades your commitment to showing you value your applicants.
That’s why we created a window time. Most applicants repeatedly check their mailbox for a response within a few hours of an interview—you know, for feedback or whatnot. That’s around 4-6 hours post-interview.
“Hi, Thank you for your time today. We appreciate your interest in the role and enjoyed discussing the opportunity with you. We will be in touch soon regarding the next steps.”
That’s an example of a generic Thank-You email. It lacks insight from the interview or any tangible unfinished discussion that can positively influence the candidate’s overall experience.
Sending an email is not enough; you have to show your applicants that you paid attention to every little detail during your discussion. That also goes beyond adding the candidate’s first name in the subject line.
For proper personalization, you should include specifics from the interview, throw in subtle but positive feedback on the candidate’s performance, and create an anticipatory interest before rounding up the email.
The whole purpose of a Thank-You email is to express gratitude to your candidates. So, this should be the first line of your email: Appreciate their time, tell them you value their availability and contribution during the interview, and comment on their lively vibe, if any.
You should also end the email with an appreciation line again. A simple ‘Thank You’ will do here, but you can personalize it based on your conversation. Your email tone must convey appreciation for the candidate’s time as well.
After that, dedicate a section to discuss your next steps with the candidate, including an expected wait time till they get a new email, go on another interview, or wait for the final feedback. This gives them something to hold on to and helps applicants make informed decisions about their future plans.
Finally, your email should briefly highlight the important aspects of your company culture that align with the candidate's values.
For instance, “You demonstrated creativity and open communication, both of which align with our workplace culture and collective goals. I’m glad we could share a few insights on your values.”
This approach helps potential employees understand whether their values and your work culture align, encourages them to build on their existing strengths, and reinforces your employer brand reputation.
Sending a thank-you email is a no-brainer, but there are a few dots you need to connect if you want an effective outcome. Let’s quickly go through each.
Thank you emails are solely for improving every candidate’s hiring experience, building your employer's brand image and reputation, and ensuring a win-win outcome for everyone. But it’s quite easy to be tempted into sending it to only performing candidates who you assume will likely make it on the board while neglecting those with fewer chances.
That’s not going to make a cut. And you might surprisingly end up ditching your most ideal talent because of such bias. Besides, everyone deserves an equal treat of gratitude, whether they satisfied your expectations or not.
So, ensure all candidates receive a Thank-You email, regardless of the outcome. Timing can differ if you’re working with multiple candidates at the same time, and you need to personalize each one individually. Just see to it that everyone gets a heartfelt note.
In the light of personalizing your emails, you’re just a thin line away from sounding either too formal or too informal. We understand—add that rizz and sassy comments, especially if you hit off on some interesting discussions. Introduce that professionalist tone and portray yourself as an authority with a few dominant acronyms.
However, both extremes can paint the wrong image about you or your brand. Being too formal defeats the relationship you’re trying to build. Going too informal makes you appear unprofessional or uncouth.
That’s why you should strike a balance between professionalism and personalization. Keep things at arm’s length and focus on the context of the recruitment. Use grammar tools to review your sentence presentation and also check content for plagiarism before hitting the ‘send’ button.
First, your recruitment goal is not to hire every candidate who comes to you, even if they all fit the criteria. Second, not all candidates will show up with the competencies required for the vacant role. Either way, a large chunk of your applicants will end up unhired after going through one or more checks in which they invested their time and effort. That’s disappointing.
To cushion this outcome, you should discuss the possibility of future opportunities for candidates who may not be selected. See how Hubspot did it below:
Of course, you can light up your own lines with more helpful resources—like a link to your career page if there are other opportunities, a heads up on the next recruitment period, or tips on shaping applicants’ competencies for their next big opening.
“But it’s just a simple Thank You email.” Well, not really. Each email structurally and functionally depicts your entire organization. And some of the mistakes that can impact this overall image include:
Misspelling the candidate’s name or role is another big No-No. If you’re using an automation tool like MailMunch, ensure you cross-check every candidate's data for accuracy before sending it. You should also avoid using a tone that feels insincere or forced and generic.
An understated component of a successful Thank-You email strategy is automation tools like Mailmunch, our GTM marketing platform designed to help businesses with lead generation, email marketing, and landing page creation.
Here’s how MailMunch can streamline your email-sending process:
Recruiters or hiring managers are busy people, which means you’ll find it difficult to create a dynamic template for your thank-you emails each time. MailMunch solves this problem by providing thousands of brand-aligned “Post-interview Thank You email” templates that are editable with its visual drag and drop feature. Each template is also designed to work on any email platform, including Mailchimp or messaging software.
Personalization is at the center of your email so long as you plan to hit the value cord of your candidates. Mailmunch offers automation tools that seamlessly and carefully structure your emails to each receiving applicant. Our platform also ensures your Thank You message is sent at the right time to the right person, even if you’re working with a list of thousands of candidates.
MailMunch provides comprehensive tracking functionality that tells you if an email was delivered, opened, read through, or ignored. This helps you measure the overall engagement rate and plan for appropriate follow-up with the existing automation tools. You can also set up certain triggers that automatically send a next email when your applicants take certain actions regarding the email.
We’ve discussed the main components of a good Thank You Email and why automation like MailMunch is essential. Now, let’s examine a few practical samples for general use.
Subject: Thank You for Your Time Today
Hi [Candidate's Name],
Thank you for coming in today and taking the time to meet with us. It was great learning more about your experience and discussing how it could fit with our team here at [Company Name].
We appreciate your interest in the [Position Name] role and enjoyed our conversation.
Best regards,
[Recruiter's Name]
[Company Name]
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Thank You and Next Steps
Hi [Candidate's Name],
Thank you for coming in today and discussing the [Position Name] role with us. It was a pleasure learning about your background and how you might contribute to our team.
We’ll be reviewing all candidates over the next few days and will be in touch shortly with the next steps. If you have any questions in the meantime, please feel free to reach out.
Thanks again for your time and interest in [Company Name].
Best regards,
[Recruiter's Name]
[Company Name]
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Thank You and Feedback on Your Interview
Hi [Candidate's Name],
Thank you for taking the time to interview for the [Position Name] role. We appreciate the opportunity to hear about your experience and skills.
While we have decided to move forward with another candidate for this position, we were impressed with your background and would encourage you to apply for future roles that match your skills and interests. We believe you could be a great fit for other opportunities at [Company Name].
Thank you again for your time, and we hope to stay in touch.
Best regards,
[Recruiter's Name]
[Company Name]
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Thank You—Excited About Your Potential at [Company Name]
Hi [Candidate's Name],
Thank you for coming in today to discuss the [Position Name] role. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation and was particularly impressed by your insights into [specific topic discussed during the interview]. Your experience and enthusiasm really stood out.
We’ll be in touch shortly regarding the next steps, but I wanted to express how excited we are about the possibility of you joining our team. Your potential is clear, and I’m confident you’d make a strong impact here at [Company Name].
Thanks again, and I look forward to our next conversation.
Best regards,
[Recruiter's Name]
[Company Name]
Sending a thank-you email to your job candidates after an interview helps you build a solid employer brand reputation, enhances the applicant’s recruitment experience, and helps you gain a competitive advantage in retaining top talents against other brands. That’s why you must start using it now.
During implementation, ensure you follow the 4-6 hours window for sending emails. Prioritize personalization and capitalize on your company culture alongside the gratitude message. Also, provide the next steps and follow-up opportunities before rounding up.
Lastly, use MailMunch to access a library of prebuilt and editable post-interview Thank You emails and leverage its automation tools to streamline your process.
M. Usama is an SEO Growth Specialist and Content Marketer at Mailmunch. He is passionate about crafting engaging and informative content on email marketing and lead generation.
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